Liquid M220: Acer’s first U.S. smartphone is powered by Snapdragon processor

April 23, 2015

When the Acer Liquid M220launched at Mobile World Congress last month, the affordable phone was applauded for its intuitive interface and its fresh take on smartphone design. Now the M220, which is currently sold in 54 countries, will be the first in Acer’s line of phones to appear in the United States.

The phone boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor, which is designed to power the 3G connectivity, the 223 pixels per inch resolution on the 4-inch display, and 512 MB or 1 GB memory (depending on the region)—a noble range of specs for such an affordable phone. The Liquid M220 also supports 8GB of storage, space for photos, e-books, apps, which can be expanded with a microSD card for up to 32 GB additional storage. And the battery powers 3 hours of talk time or 200 hours of standby before it needs to be recharged.

The Liquid M220 runs on the Windows Phone 8.1 mobile OS, which buyers will be able to upgrade to Windows 10, once the next-gen operating system officially launches in late 2015. The Liquid M220 will also come loaded with signature Microsoft programs including OneDrive, Skype, Office, and Cortana the digital assistant.

The Liquid M220 is a great device for taking photos and video, too. The handset sports a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and a 5-megapixel main camera with 89-degree wide angle view. The Snapdragon processor supports the dual cameras as well as the HD screen on which users can view all of their spontaneous photos.

The smartphone design is simple, yet it stands out in a landscape of homogenous, smooth phones. The Thai Silk pattern that encases the phone differentiates it in style, while also providing a comfortable grip. A silver strip of grooved repeating pyramids—which stands out in color from both the black or white versions of the phone—pops out subtly along the side of the phone.

The Liquid M220 comes bundled with the Liquid Leap+ activeband, which counts steps, tracks calories burned, and monitors hours of sleep, and syncs with the smartphone with a low-energy Bluetooth 4.0 connection. The band is minimalist in design to match the smartphone. It is expected to be available at Microsoft Stores starting in June.

Acer also unveiled the new Aspire E notebook series. These laptops are the first to integrate the MU-MIMO (Multi-User Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output) technology solution from Qualcomm Technologoies, Inc., called Qualcomm MU|EFX, engineered to deliver up to 3x faster Wi-Fi to every smartphone, computer and TV in your home or business when paired with routers that also support the solution. With Qualcomm MU|EFX a Wi-Fi network serves multiple devices simultaneously rather than one at a time—supporting more devices at faster speeds.